WHO WE ARE.
The International Friendship Center is a 501c (3) organization facilitating services that bridge the gap between struggle and security for people in hardship. In partnership with our communities, we help provide opportunities for adults and children to obtain basic human and social needs as well as assistance with challenges facing immigrants. We serve individuals and families who live or work in the Highlands, Franklin and Cashiers, NC area.
MISSION
Our mission is to build cross cultural relationships that foster well-being and self-sufficiency. We strive to assist people experiencing hardship and to address concerns and challenges facing the immigrants in our community by fostering understanding among all people, facilitating social and human services, and providing nutrition to the underserved through the Highlands Food Pantry.
HISTORY
The International Friendship Center was founded by the Missions Committee of the First Presbyterian Church and the Outreach Committee of the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, along with their church leadership, in 2002. Both congregations felt strongly that our community’s immigrant workers faced many access barriers to healthcare, legal assistance, banking, housing, schooling, etc., so the IFC focused on providing services and on bridging the gaps to those services. Prior to the Great Recession, the IFC had grown to have a staff of three people and had developed a rich variety of services and programming.
Years later, a group felt a need for a food pantry to serve immigrants and locals; as a nonsectarian fiscal agent or sponsor was needed, the IFC was asked to become the umbrella organization for the Highlands Food Pantry.
The Great Recession dealt a financial setback to the IFC, so it shrank its staffing and programming to reflect the economic reality. We continued to offer social services and translation services, and to work closely with the Highlands United Methodist Church as partners in the Highlands Food Pantry.
In late 2019, the IFC focused on capacity building, new social services, advocacy and programming. In 2021, we hired a full-time Food Pantry Director and a full-time Social Worker, expanding our paid staff from 1.5 to 3. In 2022, we were able to hire a full-time Executive Director and fully expanded our services and programming into Cashiers, NC and Jackson County.